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catastrophic

[kat-uh-strof-ik]

Example Sentences

adjective

of the nature of a catastrophe, or disastrous event; calamitous: a catastrophic failure of the dam.

Sometimes, cat·a·stroph·i·cal, ca·tas·tro·phal [kuh-tas-truh-fuhl] .

Related forms

cat·a·stroph·i·cal·ly, adverb

non·cat·a·stroph·ic, adjective

non·cat·a·stroph·i·cal·ly, adverb

su·per·cat·a·stroph·ic, adjective

un·cat·a·stroph·ic, adjective

EXPAND

un·cat·a·stroph·i·cal·ly, adverb

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Catastrophic is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Example Sentences

Such risks are hard to insure because they are unpredictable and potentially catastrophic.

Moreover, auto insurance covers catastrophic loss, but not the day-to-day maintenance of the car.

If the rain is heavy, prolonged and falls over larger areas, the presence of trees will not prevent catastrophic floods.

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Such risks are hard to insure because they are unpredictable and potentially catastrophic.

Moreover, auto insurance covers catastrophic loss, but not the day-to-day maintenance of the car.

If the rain is heavy, prolonged and falls over larger areas, the presence of trees will not prevent catastrophic floods.

One of the potentially catastrophic consequences of the region's fragile water balance is the effect on political tensions.

But climate change and exotic weeds may exacerbate the risk of catastrophic fires.

And larger birds can cause crippling and catastrophic damage.

Events, and catastrophic ones, may dictate our decisions.

Do-gooders usually have catastrophic marketing skills.

Or your web hosting provider suffers a catastrophic data loss.

The region could be on the brink of another catastrophic war.

Tornadoes can occur anywhere on the earth, at any time, and can range from minor to catastrophic.

But these frozen reservoirs are melting rapidly, and the water they release could cause a catastrophic rise in sea levels.

Tigers and honeybees are two of the many species that are suffering catastrophic decline in our growing world.

His comparison is to biology, where species with little genetic variation are vulnerable to catastrophic epidemics.

It turned out they were known to be potentially catastrophic long before the disastrous launch.

But for such a catastrophic event, even a small probability is worrying.

They survived catastrophic asteroid impacts and outlived the dinosaurs.

Gas content is reduced and what there is can escape more readily w/o building up to catastrophic levels.

The only way to rescue our plug-hungry planet from catastrophic global warming is to embrace nuclear power, and fast.

But catastrophic failure rates are a problem for any college.

They gain much attention from predicting catastrophic climate change.

The volcano had been dormant for centuries and didn't give any warnings of the catastrophic explosion to come.

And no question that a sudden catastrophic release more than outweighs the slow bleed of annual spillage.

Thus, you carry filtered water in a reusable bottle, not environmentally catastrophic bottled water.

If air strikes become the only way of averting a catastrophic loss of western moral authority, they will have to be carried out.

Volcanoes erupted and catastrophic floods carved channels.

Others, however, gain a catastrophic momentum and often claim lives.

Magnolia, a bookmark storage and sharing service, experienced a catastrophic data loss earlier this month.

Instead of risking a catastrophic disengagement, a wise administration would start planning for an orderly one.

Vesuvius has erupted hundreds of times with catastrophic consequences.

Twice we¿ve seen catastrophic failures and the loss of all hands.

Meanwhile, geologic studies increasingly show that catastrophic asteroid and comet hits were not confined to ancient times.

It flows along smoothly and predictably until it turns suddenly into a catastrophic waterfall.

Astronomers are constantly on the lookout for bodies on such a catastrophic trajectory.

They also allow enemies to have a much easier time causing catastrophic damage.

But at ten times that cost, only the rich and the ignorant will find this catastrophic mess appealing.

And it runs the risk of catastrophic accidents if it goes wrong.

Some scientists are calling for more study of technological interventions to forestall catastrophic global warming.

But even without a circulation slowdown, warm waters will absorb less oxygen, and the effects could be catastrophic.

Whether it now turns catastrophic is an open question.

There will be world-wide catastrophic econimic and social consenquences for trying to deal with the issue.

Universal single payer catastrophic medical insurance.

The astronauts flying the shuttle have absolutely no way to abort in the event of a catastrophic failure.

The general preference for boys in developing countries has had catastrophic effects.

Cheerleaders suffer more catastrophic injuries than female athletes in all other sports combined.

So private catastrophic insurance will all but vanish.

Given the potential for catastrophic sea level rise or storms, this low-lying nation is investing in ways to.

Cheerleaders suffer more catastrophic injuries than athletes in all other sports combined.

Insurance exists to reduce the risk of catastrophic events, not small expenses.

Geologists realized that, of course, both gradual and catastrophic processes helped shape the landscape.

The idea of a catastrophic collision was brought up again and again.

Your hosting provider could have a catastrophic failure.

The result is certainly catastrophic for his unionist opponents.

Deforestation may have catastrophic global effects as well.

Although there were a number of fail-safes in the system that should have prevented such a catastrophic failure, bad luck.

His promising career was thus launched, only to be felled by a series of catastrophic strokes four years ago.

But our present drug policy has three catastrophic consequences.

The trailer depicts the destruction of a futuristic society by what seems to be a catastrophic comet strike.

Treasury and overall financial markets in uncharted territory, and could trigger another catastrophic financial crisis.

In the moment of failure, the outcome seems catastrophic.

Find out how simple changes in ocean currents can lead to catastrophic weather conditions.

Catastrophic care is not being denied except by insurance companies.

For those that get caught, the consequences can be catastrophic.

The common denominator of these fellows is that they have confronted the potential for catastrophic technological downsides.

It said water was being used and polluted at catastrophic rates.

Occasionally, however, there's a policy disaster so catastrophic that everyone agrees that something has to change.

The recent mortgage crisis, as you already know, has been catastrophic throughout this region.

Cheerleading has the highest percentage of catastrophic sports injuries among female high-school athletes.

Since then, some even more catastrophic things have happened in terms of the authenticity of the sites.

Given the potential for catastrophic sea level rise or storms, this low-lying.

As a rule of thumb, reinsurers have tended to reckon that claims for catastrophic events.

When everyone goes and starts plugging in their cars, their will be a catastrophic meltdown of the power grid.

Given the catastrophic risks involved, engineers need to simulate impacts as realistically as possible.

Her catastrophic injury again raised questions about the safety of gymnastics, and of the vault in particular.

But for less distinctive destinations the collapse in tourist traffic has been catastrophic.

Its time the government there deals with this potentially catastrophic problem.

Even in the event of a catastrophic power failure, the vats will stay cold for five weeks on their own.

The solution to this catastrophic scenario is relatively easy.

By the end of the third week, the situation had become catastrophic.

The point is, the world has now reached multiple catastrophic tipping points.

It suffers a catastrophic brake failure and will crash through a railroad terminal at its destination the next morning.

Historical data on catastrophic events are understandably rare.

Here a person thinks that something catastrophic is going to happen if they allow themselves to feel anxious.

The aim is to accurately predict the location and timing of catastrophic events and improve the natural-disaster warning system.

But that may simply be evidence that investors no longer expect a catastrophic wave of bankruptcies.

The convergence of these factors could have catastrophic results.

They have all been shut down for safety reasons but crew are still there working on insuring no catastrophic melt down occurs.

Given the choice, erring on the side of inflation would be less catastrophic than erring on the side of deflation.

Otherwise the fall-out would be catastrophic for it has been some years this cover up has been going on.

Catastrophic flooding is killing people with increasing frequency, and raising the cost of maintaining infrastructure.

Wait until the private sector takes over rocket launches and the space program, we'll have catastrophic failures every few years.

The results are catastrophic with billions of dollars being wasted.

In a small percentage you get damage, and in a smaller percentage you get catastrophic damage.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

catastrophe (kəˈtæstrəfɪ)

—n
1.	a sudden, extensive, or notable disaster or misfortune
2.	the denouement of a play, esp a classical tragedy
3.	a final decisive event, usually causing a disastrous end
4.	Also called: cataclysm any sudden and violent change in the earth's surface caused by flooding, earthquake, or some other rapid process

[C16: from Greek katastrophē, from katastrephein to overturn, from strephein to turn]

catastrophic

—*adj*

cata'strophically

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Matching Quote

"This is a catastrophic universe, always; and subject to sudden reversals, upheavals, changes, cataclysms, with joy never anything but the song of substance under pressure forced into new forms and shapes."

-Doris Lessing

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